An itch that needs scratchin'

While I've always been a big fan of automotive design, lately I've been taking a lot of time to take a good look at motorcycles. My closet passion for bikes has taken on a frenzy as of late, and I'm to the point where I've actually researched classes and am prepared to sign up when dates are announced. Now, that leaves me with one problem... once my course is over, I'll have no bike.

Ahh, the fun begins.

I absolutely see no point in purchasing a crotch rocket nor anything as burly as a Road King.

So where am I leaning? Somewhere towards the smaller cruisers actually. If I had the money, I'd probably just buy a nice Sporster 883 Custom. I like the lines, the classic styling and the midrange power of the bike.

I'm not going to pretend that I don't see myself tearing up the road at some point or another, but for this particular ride, I'm looking to slow down, feel some wind against my skin and think about nothing but the open road and engine noise.

On Google Sky

Not that long ago, I posted on Google Streetview.

Yesterday, thanks to the folks at LifeHacker, I started checking out Google Sky. Basically, you can get the same satellite views you're treated to in Google's Earth application. Skywatchers and astronomy geeks rejoice.

I'm also partial to Google Moon, which allows you some fun facts on the various Apollo missions in addition to letting you check out all the moon's nooks and crannies. It's a nice little distraction.

Embedded Google promo video below. Yo.

Video Games: Guitar Hero - Van Halen Edition?

If this rumor became a reality, I'd pee my pants in a fit of joy.

The French Love My Web Site

Though I have no explanation for it, the number of visitors from France to danieleizans.com is up %600 from February. After I spend a little time with good ole' Google Analytics, I'll be sure to let you all know why the spike has occurred. In the meantime, I hope my French visitors (all 56 of you) are enjoying the site. If you are one of the returning French visitors I've been able to identify, what has you interested? Comment or grab me by one of my contact me.

On Sleep Deprivation and Marketing

I've said it many times before, and I'm saying it again. I'm exhausted. Sleep struggles seem to have decided to rear their ugly heads in my world again and to be honest, it's really messing me up. My wife to be (we're inside three months people, scary!) kept shouting at me last night for snoring. Every time I was just asleep, I apparently was snoring and kept her awake. I finally forced myself to be awake until she fell asleep, then couldn't get back to the state I had been in that caused my snoring in the first place. It wasn't a good situation.



I got up, played a little God of War and then began frantically wireframing a Web site for my friend Melanie. I've been designing something for her for a long time, but hadn't put any of the final touches on anything for a while now. I need to pass those initial plans along to her.

So all this lack of sleep has begged me to ask the question - Why can't I seem to want to use or purchase any sleep aids? Part of the problem, admittedly, is that I refuse to consult a physician on my little sleep problem. So, why then, am I hesitant to take over the counter solutions?

It got me to wondering how marketers could better position OTC sleep aids.

So, I started clicking, especially on LexisNexus (Thanks GR Press!) and found out that apparently, more Americans aren't actually insomniacs - marketers are just really great at their jobs.

The 60 percent increase in the use of sleeping pills between 2000 and 2005 is due to marketing rather than an increase in insomnia. This trend became particularly noticeable when a luminous green moth floated onto U.S. television screens in April 2005 and quickly became a well-known emblem of Lunesta, the prescription sleeping tablet.

For every 10 percent increase in advertising for a given type of medicine, prescription sales for the category rise 1 percent, according to a 2003 study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation of Menlo Park, Calif. In 2002, every extra dollar drug companies spent on ads pushed up revenue by $4.20, the research found.

I just can't tie advertising/sales figures to OTC. I'm looking into it though. I know why I don't want prescription drugs - as it requires a trip to the doctor and I think the ads are BS. I just want to find some hard data for the OTC.

On Hulu

News Corp. and NBC Universal launched on Hulu today.

The goal of Hulu is to attract marketers by offering a richer experience than Google's answer to the online video craze (maybe you've heard of it?) YouTube.

Supposedly a lot of marketers are very interested in the program. Marketers already working with Hulu for beta testing -- which allowed users from media executives to journalists try out the site -- included Cisco Systems, Intel Corp., Unilever, General Motors, Nissan and Toyota.

It will be interesting to see how many other companies jump on the streaming media bandwagon. Limited commercial interruptions within streaming media can be quite obtrusive. Personally, I go online to avoid advertising. I go out of my way to block it (thanks AdBlock Plus!) and want my shows uninterrupted. That's why I was incredibly upset to hear that NBC and others were abandoning the iTunes route.

I'll blog a lot more on this topic as I surf Hulu and get my bearings. I can't believe I wasn't asked to be a beta tester!

Project: Cube redesign

At work, we were recently given new business cards. When my box showed up on my desk I opened them and saw the word "creative" slapped underneath my name.

So, since Campbell-Ewald's new business card policy has lumped me in with creative directors, illustrators and other "artsy" folk because I don't have a VP attached to my title, I'm starting a cube redesign project for my little corner of Warren.

Currently, my cube walls are heavily automotive influenced. I have a LeMans poster, a host of Corvette posters and flyers, NASCAR Chevy propaganda, autographed posters from custom auto builders and a variety of wall calendars, press passes and your generic company info. I also have a cutting board in the shape of a pig outside my office, Eric Cartman on my desk and a host of other junk.

Now, I find myself needing a big change. Aesthetically, I'm bored with my space. I'm redesigning, immediately. More on this later.

On Street Art in Marketing

Thanks to a recent work meeting, I've had to pay a bit more attention to tattooing and street art.

So needless to say, I was thrilled when I came across this fantastic little feature on PingMag.

It's an interview with Excusado Printsystem, a Columbian art collective geared at making art inventions in Bogata. It got me thinking about the recent craze on using street art in advertising. Pepsi Co.'s recent launch of the Green Label Art, for its Mountain Dew drink.

What I love about that campaign is what you never see in the ads, the partnership with the artists. These artists, who might never reach the audience that Mountain Dew can provide are getting a chance to have their work seen (whether you think the artist is "selling out" or not is irrelevant to me - artists and designers have to eat too!).

There seems to be a resurgence in allowing outsiders to have a crack at logos, designs and campaigns, and I like the spirit behind it. But it needs to be done very, very carefully. There's a cred that goes with graffiti and tattooing. And if you're going to allow people who claim they're "artists" a shot at shaping your brand, you'd better be damn sure they're legit and they're not going to blow it.

Today's appreciators of "urban" and "street" (whatever you want to call it) culture have a finely tuned bull shit detector.

Mountain Dew has always been branded pretty well in my opinion. They latched onto the X-Games before the X-Games were cool and use their sponsorship bucks very well. Nice to see they worked with some legit artists here as well.

At any rate, check out all of the above. Any thoughts on use of "Street Art" in a campaign?